The more options you give employees to tailor their benefits, the more engaged they will be. Improve benefit choices without increasing your credit union’s cost by offering voluntary (a.k.a. employee-owned or “worksite”) insurance options.

Common voluntary policies include whole life, critical illness, supplemental health, long-term care, and cancer insurance. These often provide lump sums employees can use for any noncovered expenses relating to loss.

In the survey referenced earlier, only 22% of the participants said employees at their credit unions were highly engaged with their employee benefits program.

However, 41% of credit unions with highly engaged employees offered voluntary benefits while only 30% of credit unions where employees are less engaged offer them.

3. Cost-value

This concept expands choice by having employees more actively manage their health insurance costs. For example, offer employees the option to pair a high-deductible health plan with a health reimbursement account, or use a health savings account to pay out-of-pocket costs while reducing taxable income.

These are not one-size-fits-all programs—employees must make informed decisions and become more active consumers.

4. Confidence

Nothing dampens employees’ engagement more than feeling powerless to resolve glitches or disputes with benefits providers. Employees need to believe they have recourse—and they need to know how to get it.

HR staffs that offer employee advocacy are an excellent first line of defense. But credit unions should also provide online resources that answer common employee questions and offer user-friendly procedures for logging complaints or submitting questions.

If your benefits partner or broker has a dedicated advocacy center (via phone, online, or both), be sure employees know about it.

These four critical Cs should be part of your credit union’s annual strategic planning.

It’s easy to focus entirely on comparing plan providers, details, and cost. However, it’s just as important to give employees a better grasp of the true costs—and true advantages—of their employee benefit packages.